Hawaiian Falls Garland

Hawaiian Falls Waterparks is a chain of faith-based waterparks owned by Harvest Family Entertainment. Hawaiian Falls parks are all built using the public-private partnership model, where cities contribute funds and/or other incentives and the parks are built on public land. Each of the seven parks has a separate lease structure with the cities participation ranging from contributing land and infrastructure costs(Garland and The Colony)to 100% financing . The first two parks were in the City of Garland and the City of The Colony, both in Texas. The third park was located in the South Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas. In 2004 Hawaiian Falls experienced financial problems and founder and CEO David Busch sold the company to Herschend Family Entertainment. In 2006 Busch was able to buy the company back from Herschend after purchasing, then reselling The Colony and Garland Parks to CNL Lifestyle Properties. In addition to paying rent to Garland and The Colony, Hawaiian Falls must pay rent to CNL. In 2014 The City of Garland conducted an audit of Hawaiian Falls and was unable to verify Hawaiian Falls gross receipts for the 2011 season. The audit stated that Hawaiian Falls "could not provide source documentation for group ticket sales,group food and beverage sales,season pass sales and online ticket sales." After re-branding the Dallas park Bahama Beach to Hawaiian Falls in 2007, the Company and the City of Dallas agreed to terminate the 11-year management contract because the Company could no longer continue to underwrite the losses at the park. The Dallas park, considered "the first inner-city waterpark", was a risky endeavor. David Busch said, "From a business standpoint, we shouldn't be doing this." According to Busch, after Hawaiian Falls and the City ended the management agreement, the park continued to lose money. Busch sees his parks as a "mission field." The parks are often used for baptisms and other religious activities, and Busch says there were "more than 2,000 baptisms in our lazy rivers and wavepools" in 2011 alone. The parks often feature Christian concerts and events, such as "Modesty Matters" in 2013. Hawaiian Falls employee program is called "Connections." According to Rawd B. Jones, whose company Pure Group, administers Connections, the program includes after hours Bible study and church services, as well as training on how to bring the gospel to guests. The five locations Hawaiian Falls operates are located across the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex area and Central Texas. In 2014 Hawaiian Falls opened a new waterpark in Pflugerville, Texas, and another in White Settlement, Texas. In addition to the traditional Hawaiian Falls 'micropark,' each of the new parks includes an adventure park (rope course with ziplines), an arcade, and an event center. The adventure parks, arcades, and event centers are open year-round. CEO Busch has said that he sees these year-round parks as a way for Hawaiian Falls to achieve "endless growth," and he is looking to expand outside of Texas. In late July 2014 Busch reported to the Pflugerville Community Development Corporation (PCDC) that because of delays in completing the park due to construction issues, revenues at the Pflugerville park were some 30% less than projected for the park. He implied they would make up this shortfall in the winter, stating, “We will fill that place up all winter long. That’s year-round revenue. And that’s very... What a relief.” In December 2014 Hawaiian Falls closed its 'year-round' adventure parks in Pflugerville and White Settlement. The company claims the parks will re-opening in March "dependent on the weather" Twelve year-round employees were laid-off. Hawaiian Falls Pflugerville was "expected to employ 100 part-time workers year round" in addition to its part-time-seasonal and full-time, year-round employees. Numerous public/private projects have been considered by Hawaiian Falls and communities throughout the United States including Henderson, NV; Beaumont, TX; Royse City, TX; Temecula, CA; Grandview, MO; Greenville, Texas,; Rockwall, Texas,; Fontana, California,; Gilbert, Arizona,; Escondido, California,; and Elk Grove Grove, California.; and many others. Hawaiian Falls is awaiting approval on a proposal for a $20 million waterpark in Richland County, South Carolina.